Monorail transportation system



Nov. 20, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 14, 1960 Nov. 20, 1962- 4 R. w. EWING, JR 3,064,585

MONORAIL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM Filed Sept. 14, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofitice 3,064,585 Patented Nov. 20, 196.2

3,064,585 MONGRAKL TRANSPGRTATZQN SYS-EM Robert W. Ewing, 51"., 4%5 Greenmount Road, Wilmington 3, Del. Filed Sept. 14, 1%9, Ser. No. 56,059 6 Claims. (Ci. 1ll493) The present application relates to a monorail transportation assembly or system and more particularly relates to monorail transportation assemblies which travel at high speeds up to several hundred miles per hour. Hererofore, a great deal of work and experimentation has been carried out relative to monorail assemblies or systems. Some of these systems are actually in ope-ration for demonstration purposes, amusement park devices and for local transportation purposes. All of these systems are designed generally for low speed operation and are generally intended for local transportation only.

To date, no satisfactory monorail system for high speed operation over great distances has yet been constructed or devised.

It is therefore one object of my invention to provide a novel and improved monorail assembly or system which will travel in satisfactory and safe manner at high speeds up to several hundred miles per hour.

A further object of my invention is to provide a novel and improved monorail system or assembly which may be used for high-speed transportation purposes over long distances such as from Boston to Philadelphia.

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel and improved monorail system or assembly which is extremely stable and will not be adversely affected by strong cross winds or other disturbing factors during its travel.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide a novel and improved monorail system or assembly with means of regulating and controlling any tendency for the monorail cars to deviate or swing on" of its normal position below the center line of the track supporting the car, except when rounding a curve.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from the following description and attached drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a general side view of my monorail assembly;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the same assembly;

FIG. 3 is an end view of the assembly of FIG. 1 as it appears along curved sections of the monorail track;

FIG. 4 is a view on enlarged scale and partially in section of one embodiment of a portion of the monorail assembly shown in FIGS. 1-3;

FIG. 5 is a view on enlarged scale and partially in section of another embodiment of a portion of the assembly shown in FIGS. 1-3

FIG. 6 is a detail of a portion of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 of the drawing;

FIG. 7 is a detail partially in section showing an embodiment of the rail which supports the monorail car;

FIGS. 8 and 9 are views on enlarged scale and partially in section which relate to embodiments of a stabilizer wheel structure which runs along the rail;

FIG. 10 is a side view on enlarged scale relating to still a further embodiment of the wheel assembly which runs along the track;

FIG. 11 is a perspective of a device relied upon for explanatory purposes; and

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a hydraulic system which is used in stabilizing the monorail cars against undesirable sway transversely of the track.

to assemblies shown in FIGS. 1 through 12 relate to improvements in a monorail car or train, and track. These assemblies serve to provide greatly increased safety and other features believed necessary for practical modern transportation by cars suspended from an overhead rail, and facilitate the safe operation of such cars at speeds of several hundred miles per hour. Such a means of transportation opens new possibilities in dependable high speed transportation between centers of population, independent of weather, and without the need of secondary transportation to reach outlying airports. By using one-way tracks with switches only at terminals, and elevating the rails above any possible crossing traffic, collisions between the monorail trains and any other vehicles are entirely eliminated. The monorail system can be established along existing railroad right-of-ways without interference wtih normal railroad operation.

Essentially the monorail assembly consists of cars suspended below the supporting rail by wheel assemblies having load carrying wheels running on a lower flange of the rail on opposite sides of a rail web member or members. The assembly includes stabilizing wheels which contact the rail above the load-carrying wheels and limit the sideward swing of the wheel assembly and cars. The lower load carrying flange of the rail is completely captive within the wheel assembly yoke, precluding the pos sibility of the wheels running off the rail.

The invention will now be described in detail.

As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, my monorail system includes a rail generally identified as 1 suspended from an overhead supporting frame 2 with the legs 2 of the frame 2 anchored in the ground or other supporting elements 3 which are in turn anchored in the ground. With this arrangement, the rail 1 is supported high above the ground level whereby it may easily be installed over existing railroad right-of-ways. Supported by the rail 1 and adapted to travel therealong is a series of cars 4. As seen in FIG. 1 the car 4 includes an entrance-exit door 5, seats 6 and windows 7. The lead car is shown in FIG. 1 and this car includes a control ofiice or engineer station 8 at the front end thereof from which the operation of the train of cars is controlled. Cars 4 are connected together through flexible passages and coupling assemblies 9 and car connecting bars 1%. The car connecting bars 10 are attached to the cars through ball and socket joints 11.

As further seen in FIG. 1 the cars 4 are supported from the rail 1 by drive wheel assemblies or trucks generally designated as 12 to which the cars 4 are attached. As further shown in FIG. 2, the assembly of FIG. 1 also includes hydraulic cylinder assemblies 14, 14 connected with the cars and wheel assemblies which serve to limit or control any transverse sway in the cars as they travel along the rail 1.

FIG. 3 shows the frame 2 as it is constructed for curved portions of the rail. As seen herein, the top arm 15 of the frame 2 is tilted, and the rail 1 lies at an angle m from the vertical. This construction of the frame 2 is called for on curves having a radius about a point to the left in the direction q from the rail 1 as shown in FIG. 3. The center line of the car forms an angle n e I aoe gees with a vertical line and the wheel assembly 12 is tilted at an angle 12 plus p to the vertical.

Angle m is a track design angle and is arrived at as follows: 7 g y A speed of V feet per second (l.46 m.p.h.) is assumed, and the radius of curvature, r of the track is known. The car will, except for transverse wind forces which cannot be forecast, swing out at an angle In from the vertical, where In practice, the car runs at V feet per sec., where V V At this speed, the car must assume an angle n from the vertical to achieve a comfortable angle where the passengers weight is directed toward the seat, where n=the angle whose tangent is Where n m.

If a wind is blowing from left to right, a corrective force in the form of a thrust on 14' and pull on 14 is applied to bring the angle of the car back to n from the vertical.

The result of forcing the car to rotate slghtly clocsiwise against the wind pressure will usually be to rotate the truck 12 slightly counter-clockwise, so that truck 12 assumes an angle n+p from the vertical, and the car is assumed to be restored to angle n, which is greater than the track design angle by an angle 11 where n-m=u, or in other words, the angle between the track center line and the car center line is u.

FIG. 4 is vertical section taken through the rail 1, the truck 12 and a portion of the car i. is secured to the support frame 2 at its upper end flange 16 includes a vertical web section 17 which extends downwardly from the flange 16. The upper flange 16 includes thickened areas 16 at the flange extremities to strengthen the rail laterally. Extending from the lower end of the web section 17 to both sides thereof is a curved flange 18. The flange it; extends outwardly for a substantially equal distance to either side of the vertical web 17.

The truck 12 (see FIG. 1 also) includes longitudinal members 19 to which are secured upwardly and inwardly extending arms 2% which form a yolk configuration. At the free end of each arm 29, there is mounted a traction wheel 21 which wheels contact and ride along the curved flange 18. The wheels 21 are so mounted that they lie at a right angle to the surface of the flange 13. In other words, their center line plane of rotation is always at right angles to and in contact with the curved flange upper surface.

Stabilizer wheels 22 are also supported on the trucks 12. To describe the stabilizer wheel mounting, reference is also made to FIG. 1 wherein it is seen that each truck 12 includes a pair of spaced apart above-mentioned traction wheels 21 on each side of the web 17. Each pair of traction wheels is connected by a tie bar 23 secured to each pair of wheel supporting arms 2%. This tie bar illustrated in FIG. 6 shows in detail the manner in which the stabilizer wheels 22 are mounted. The stabilizer wheels 22 are mounted on arms 23 which are in turn pivotally mounted to the tie bars 23 at point 24-. The stabilizer wheels are urged toward the web portion 17 of the rail 1 by spring member 25 and hydraulic cylinder or shock absorbing mean 25 which are connected with the tie bar 23 and the arm 23. With this arrangement, the stabilizer wheels are constantly urged into contact with The rail 1 which the web portion 17 and control swaying of the wheel assemblies and cars around the rail center line as will now be explained.

Cylinder 26, FIG. 6 may be connected in parallel with cylinder 14 of FIG. 4. If it is desirable to resist a counter-clockwise rotation of 4 and 12 about i,- hydraulic pressure is increased in the closed end'of these cylinders, producing a thrust between frame 23 and rail web 17 which produces a clockwise moment about the lower rail flange, thus resisting this counter-clockwise rotation. Sirnultaneouslythe pressure would be relieved in the rod end of these cylinders, and converse changes in the pressure applied to cylinders on the opposite side of the truck. These hydraulic pressure changes would be achieved through manually or mechanically controlled means described hereinafter.

As further seen in FIG. 4 a curved and outwardly ex panding section 27 is formed in the upper portion of the web portion 17 on either side thereof at the point where the web portion terminates in the upper flange 16. With this arrangement, the curved section 27 exerts a general downwardly extending force upon the stabilizer wheels 22 should they come in contact with the curved portion 27 through transverse sway of the truck 12 and cars 4 which force serves to urge the wheels 21 against the curved flange 18, while also tending to resist rotation of truck E2 about rail 1. I

Cars are supported from the longitudinal members 19 of the truck 12 by means of a hollow shaft 27 (FIG. 4-) which is spring mounted by springs 28 and 29 in ball socket 3d. The upper curved periphery of the ball socket 3%? is supported by inwardly curved members 1% of the longitudinal members 19. The center line of the ball socket 3t} coincides normally wtih the center of curvature of the flange 18 whereby the ball socket connection permits angular movement of the truck 12 relative to the car 4 in any direction.

As seen further in FIG. 4, hydraulic or other suitable cylinder assemblies (as mentioned above) 14 connect the cars 4 to the longitudinal members 19. The cylinders 14 can also be used to increase or decrease the angle of the cars 4 relative to the truck 12. The cylinders 26 (FIG. 6) used with the stabilizing wheels 22 can also be connected with this hydraulic or other suitable system which con-. trols cylinders 14 so as to act with them or they may be controlled by a separate but similar hydraulic system.

Some or all of the traction wheels 21 are driven by electric, pneumatic, hydraulic or other suitable type of motor 32 connected with the wheels 21. The motive power for the cars 4 or train can be provided by dieselelectric power from one or more of the car driving motors 32, by an atomic or other power generator or any other conventional or otherwise power source located within-thetrain. This source can drive a propeller or supply electric-hydraulic or other type of power to the motors 32. In addition to the above, the monorail assembly can bedriven by an air propeller or jet power.

Other than above, trolley wires 33 as seen in FIG. 4

a run along the lower side of the flange 18 or at any other convenient location. These wires are insulated from the rail 1 by non-conductive mounts 34. Current is picked up by shoes 35 mounted on spring load trolley arms 36 and the current then carried through leads 37 through the hollow shaft 37 to a control panel (not shown) in are straight or slightly concave and the treads of the;

wheels 21 are cylindrical or slightly convex. The stabilizing wheels 22 are at all times spring loaded with limited movement or even rigidly fixed in close proximity tothe straight line expanded portions 27 of the vertical web portion 17' of rail 1. The flange 18', the stabilizer wheels 22 and the straight line expanded portions 27 of the web 17 cooperate here to substantially lock the wheel assembly in place on the rail 18. With this arrangement, any angular movement of the car relative to the track is by means of rotation about pivot connection point at which point a ball socket joint as previously described or a universal type joint is centered to attach the cars to the wheel assembly.

The type rail 1 shown and described so far in FIGS. 4 and 5 can be satisfactorily used with wheel assemblies and wheel angles designed to suit. These rails are capable of withstanding vertical, horizontal and torsional loads imposed by its own weight and by the cars over long undersupported spans. The track section shown in FiG. 7, however, possess greater lateral and torsional stiffness and would be advantageous in some instances. The embodiment shown in H6. 7 differs in that the rail 1 has a substantially triangular shape. The edges of the element 17 are reinforced and extend from a web area 41 thereby providing additional strength across the entire width of the rail 1.

FlG. 8 illustrates a method for mounting the wheels 21 on roller or ball bearings 45 and 46. The bearings are supported on a hollow shaft '47. A drive shaft 48 extends through the hollow shaft 47 and is secured to an end plate 49 in turn secured to the face of the wheel 21 for driving wheel 21. Also shown in this figure is an internal counter-rotating fly wheel 50 having a moment of inertia about its axis comparable to that of the wheel 21 and the rotor of motor 32 combined. The fly wheel 50 is counterrotated by means of an angle gear 51 attached to the inner surface of the face of wheel 21, a gear or gears 52 rotatably mounted with their axis held rigidly with respect to the hollow shaft 47 by suitable mounting attached to it, and a third angle gear 53 mounted on the fly wheel 56. The fly wheel as rotates on its own bearings 55 mounted on the hollow shaft 47. The purpose of the fly wheel as will be described further in conjunction with FIG. 11.

FIG. 9 shows, additionally, two features which may be combined as shown or used with any other combination disclosed herein. Here, Wheel 21 has a metal rim mounted on rubber or other suitable elastomeric material 61. The rubber 61 is vulcanized or otherwise attached to the periphery of the wheel 21 so that the metal rim 60 may move slightly relative to the wheel 21'. With this arrangement minor shocks brought about by the wheel assemblies passing over track joints, etc., we absorbed. The other feature shown in FIG. 9 is the inclusion of an electric motor 63 within the wheel 21 itself. The field 64 is supplied with power through leads 65 and 66. The armature 67 drives the wheel 23.

Another embodiment of the fly wheel feature is shown in FIG. 10. Here the fly wheel 56 is positioned externally of the wheels 21. The fly wheel is mounted between traction wheels 21 on tie bar 23 so as not to contact rail 1 and is driven by motor 70 in a direction counter to that of the rail wheel 21 as shown by the arrows in the drawing.

FIG. 11 shows a fly wheel or gyroscope rotating with an angular velocity V about a horizontal axis zz and is now referred to in order to explain fully the purpose of the fly wheels described above. The plane of rotation is xx, yy. If the force P is applied tending to rotate the axle 76 downward about x-x, the gyroscopic action of the rotating wheel Will resist this rotation and instead tend to rotate in direction R about axis yy. If the rotation V were in the opposite direction, force P would tend to produce a rotation about y-y in the direction S.

It is conceivable that at speeds of several hundred miles per hour the gyroscopic effect of the wheels 21 might interfere with proper tracking. Hence the fly wheels 50 are provided to partially or fully compensate (depending on their moment of inertia provided) and tend to nullify the gyroscopic precession of the load bearing wheels, etc. To illustrate, if at high speed, a traction wheel, 21, represented by wheel 75 in FIG. 11 was subjected to forces P tending to rotate the axle 76 downward about xx when traveling in direction T, the gyroscopic eifect would tend to rotate the wheels to the left (direction R about y-y). The presence of wheels 50 rotating at the same speed in the opposite direction would, if its moment of inertia equals that of the wheel 21 and the rotor of 32, exert an equal force in the direction S, thus neutralizing the eflect.

FIG. 12 is a schematic representation of a hydraulic system which can be used with the present invention to stabilize the car against undesirable transverse sway due to transverse winds or other causes. Pendulum 80 mounted on axle 82 is shown in a position it would assume if the car were rounding a curve to the left. In this respect, angle K equals A which will be hereinafter defined with further reference to FIG. 3 of the drawing. The swing of pendulum 80 is dampened by an oil-dash pct 83 mounted on axle 82 (on axis xx). The dash pot 83 is held in a vertical position at all times by a gyroscopic stabilizer 84-. This stabilizer is similar to that used in gyroscopic-compasses and need not be further described here. In view of a transverse wind from the right, the car has not swung through correct angle K but has assumed an angle I. Contact bar 85 of the pendulum therefore engages contact 86 attached to a car 4-. This action shifts a solenoid switch 87 to supply oil under pressure to chambers 83 and 89 of cylinders 14, 14 as previously seen in FIGS. 25 of the drawing, also relieving the pressure in chamber 90 and chamber 91, thus rotating the car-4 outward about its wheel assemblies until I is increased to the correct angle K.

Hydraulic fluid is supplied under pressure by a conventional motor, pump, reservoir, and pressure control system M (FIG. 12) energized by power source 93, and also provided is an electric power source 92 for energizing solenoid switch 87, by which means the oil is diverted to chambers 88, 39 or 90, 91 as needed.

By means of switch 94, valve 87 may be controlled manually through switch 95 instead of by pendulum Sit if desired.

Electrical dynamic braking can be used to de-accelerate the cars. Mechanical, pneumatic or hydraulic brake systems similar to those used in automobiles or trucks could also be used singly or additionally. Since these devices are well known commercially, they will not be further described here.

When traveling on a straight section of track, the most comfortable position for the passengers is when the car hangs straight down below the center line of the track as shown in FIG. 2. When the car is rounding a curved portion of the track as in FIG. 3, the most comfortable position for passengers is when the car assumes an angle A with the vertical so that the passengers feel no tendency to slide sideways on their seat.

A equals the angle whose tangent is where V equals velocity of the car in feet per second, r equals radius of curvature of the track in feet, and g equals the gravitational constant (approximately by 32.2 ft. per second However, winds may cause the car to sway and there may be some tendency of the car to swing back and forth after rounding a curve, hence rotation of the car about its axis of suspension must at times be controlled.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be 7 practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. A monorail transportationassembly comprising an overhead support, a rail secured to said support, a continuous lower flange onv the rail, the upper surface of said lower flange being curved at a fixed radius about a line on the rail center line extended below the rail, yoke type trucks which, ride along the upper surfaces of the lower rail flanges, the traction wheels of said trucks being located at an angle in such a way that their planes of rotation intersect. along the line about which the surface of the lower track flange is curved thus providing for continuous rail contact along the center line of the traction wheel tread while the angle of the trucks may vary relative to the track axis of symmetry, cars suspended from the trucks in such a manner that the cars hang below the rail, stabilizer wheels connected with the trucks, and means for urging said stabilizer wheels into contact with both sides of the rail along areas above the lower flanges to facilitate control and provide limits to the rotation of the trucks and cars relative to the rail.

2. The monorail assembly of claim 1 wherein the cars are pivotally attached to the trucks, means are connected to the cars, trucks and stabilizing wheels for controlling rotation of the truck and car about the longitudinal axis of the track, and means are provided for controlling the swing of the car relative to the truck, said latter means including a pendulum With a gyroscopically stabilized dashpot assemblyconnected to the rotation control means to operate said control means.

3. The monorail assembly of claim 1 wherein at least some of the traction wheels are rotatably mounted on fixed hollow shafts, adrive shaft extends through said hollow shaft and is connected with the Wheel at its internal end, and a drive motor. is. connected with the free end of said drive shaft. 7

4. The monorail system of claim 1- wherein at least some of the traction wheels which travel along the supporting rail are substantially hollow, an internal drive motors for said wheels are supported within the hollow portion of the wheels.

5. The monorail assembly of claim 1 wherein the stabilizer wheels are pivotally mounted on the wheel assemblies, and means are connected with the stabilizer Wheels for urging them inwardly toward the web portion of the nail.

6. The monorail system of claim 1. wherein the traction Wheels include cushioning means, and an outer tread secured to the cushioning means which tread contacts the supporting rail.

References ited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 821,213 Birkin' May 22, 1906" 850,136 Cole Apr. 16, 1907' 859,834 Parr July 9, 1907 919,268 Vogt Apr. 20, 1909- 1,104,923 Peters July 28, 191 r 1,142,124 Smith June 8, 1915 1,703,496 Naud et al. Feb. 26, 1929 2,007,893 Frank et al. July 9, 1935 2,018,016 Frank et al. Oct. 22, .1935 2,056,729 Leisner et al. Oct. 6, 1936 2,088,487 Schoepf et al. July 27, 1937 2,523,113 Hanna etal Sept. 19, 1950 2,623,475 Fraser Dec. 30, 1952 

